Waiter, There's Mustard in My Cocktail!

This week’s Happy Hour cocktail is a Mustard Punch. No, that’s not a typo. Yes, the kind you put on a hot dog. Skeptical? I was too. But when the bartenders at Anvil in Houston (I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, one of the best bars in America for cocktails in the best city in Texas for food) say they’ve got a new drink they’d like you to try, you trust them. I did, and I was rewarded with a first for me: Dijon mustard in a cocktail. It was weirdly delicious–nicely acidic with just a bit of heat. Like jalapeno margaritas? You’ll dig this. What crazy soul would think of such a concoction? That would be Matt Tanner, bar manager at Anvil. “I was working a lot with mostarda, the Italian candied fruits made with mustard syrup, and just rolled with it until I was making drinks with mustard in them just to see if it would work. It did.”

Make this cocktail for friends and have them guess the secret ingredient. If they get it right the first time, tell them I’ll buy them a drink.